Guide showing comparative express and parcel-post shipping rates



C. W. FLINT.

RATIVE EXPRESS-AND PARCEL POST SHIPPING RATES.

GUIDE SHOWING COMPA APPLICATION FILED IAN. s, 1920.

1 ,420,828. Patented June 27, 1922.

n 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE SHIPPERE GUIDE COMPARATIVE. RATES.

5T LOUIS SPECIAL SHEET.

PQR ILLINOIS. EXPRESS RATES TO SUE) BLOCK OFFICES,

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c, W. FIINI.'

GUIDE SHOWING COMPARATIVE EXPRESS AND PARCEL POST SHIPPING RATES. APPLICATION FILED IAN. a, 1920.

1,420,828, PIIIIIIIIIJIII@ 27.1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I S FROM 5T. LOUIS.

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ATTORI/v Y.

unire seras CHARLES Vf. FLINT, F CHICAGO, ILLNOIS.

Specification of Letters Tatent.

Application filed January S, 1920. `Serial No. 350,089.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, CHARLrs `W. FLINT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, hare invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guides Showing` Comparative Express and Parcel-Post Shipping Rates7 of which the following is a specilfication.

rllhe invention relates to a reference guide by which a shipper by parcel post or express may determine the respective rates applying and may make instant and direct comparisons of same to determine which of the two services is the cheaper where both are possible under a given condition.

rllhe two principal services available for the transportation of the smaller, lighter and more compact class of commercial shijpiments are, first', the express service operated in the United States of America by the American Railway Express Company, and other private companies or corporations,

and, secondly, the parcel post service operated by the United States Government Postal Department.

Heretofore, comparative rate guides embracing rates for both parcel post and express services have been arranged and pnl lished, but such guides have been arrangefrgl and compiled so that the method and means of determining the rates by both parcel post and express, when shipping from the town for which the guide was prepared, were an integral and essential part of the list of the express and parcel post oflices or towns, so that such guides may be used only for shipments originating from the particular city or point of shipment for which the guide is especially intended to apply and could bc used for no other city or initial point of shipment. In consequence, it has therefore been necessary in the past to compile and publish at a very considerable expense a complete new guide for each city that the publisher of shipping information desired to serve, and the compilation, printing and publication of a work of this nature is such a tedious and expensive task that guides have been prepared showing comparative express and parcel post rates for only a few of the largest cities, such as New York city, Chicago, Boston, and possibly two or three others.. Such cities as Cleveland, Detroit,

and St. Louis together with the multitude of smaller commercial centers have not heretofore been served with comparative rate guides for parcel post and express ship'- ments, as it has not been found that lthe number of possible sales of such special publications would warrant the expense, with the result that shippers from any except the Patented June 254, 1922 ,V

largest ycenters named, have found it neces-- sary to depend upon information as to rates s furnished in separate publications issued by the express companies or the United States Post Office Department, all .of which information, while complete, is not arrangedk for. purposes of ready comparison, necessitatmg a great amount of work and expense in ascertaining comparative rates, for reasons that will be hereinafter pointed .out 1n comparing` the information furnished to the public by the postal and express authorities with the information arranged according to my invention.

lt is therefore the primary object of my invention to provide an improved form of guide 4showing both parcel post and express rates that shall contain to a maximum degrec information applicable for use in a guide for indicating specific rates'from any designated town, city or other point of ship?. ment, thus adapting the same for universal use with a minimum amount of revision or changes.

A, further object of the invention'is to provide an improved form of parcel post-and express rate guide comprising a complete and combined list of the parcel post and express otlices of the United States or other nation or Vcountry or grand division, such offices being grouped by States or sub-di visions and alphabetically arranged throughout onwhat may be termed primary leaves, together with rate tables for each individual StateY or sub-divisionl on what may be termed secondary leaves, and designating key numbers or characters of an abbreviated nature to indicate corresponding and comparatively large and unwieldy numbers as -established and commonly used in express and parcel post rate information .furnished by the U` S. Postal Department and the express companies, whereby the major portion comprising lists of places of a complete guide showing comparative parcel post and express rates from any given point of shipment may IOO Q1 iaaosas be utilized Without reyision for publication by changes in said rate tables only, in order to adapt the guide for complete use from any given point of shipment.

It .is a further object of the invention to provide in a parcel post and express shippers guide an improved key or code system adapted to dispense With and make unnecessary the use of the comparatively large series of numbers ordinarily used in designating parcel post units of area and express bloclfs? particularly When the list of offices or shipping destinations tor the entire Nation or grand division is divided into groups of such offices by States or other geographical sul divisions larger than said postal units of area or express blocks.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description which is directed to an embodiment thereof rfith reference-to certain portions of a guide illustrating fragmentary pages of the essential parts thereof shown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l illustrates a portion of the shipping destinations or towns of a selected geographical sub-division or State arranged in alphabet-ical order on what may he termed a primary leaf; Fig. 2 illustrates a portion of the rate sheet applicable to the selected geographical sub-division or State of Fig. l on what may be termed a secondary' leaf; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary portion of a special sheet illustrating the manner in Which sub-block express otlices are treated in order that they may correctly show the express rates that apply to shipping destinations located in the same express block as the town where the shipment originates or in any contiguous block.

The facilities offered by the different transportation agencies carrying parcel post and express shipments7 differ widely in some respects, but there is sufficient similarity of service and rates applying` to the majority of merchandise shipped in packages from one to 'seventy pounds, the latter being the maximum parcel post package, to maliethesc services directly competitive. Assuming that the services offered by these two tems regarding safety3 speed and accuracy are approximately equal. the single feature constantly requiring direct comparison is that of rates. There is a wide variance in the parcel post and express ratesy governed by the distance from point of shipment to destination, also by the character of the transportation. facilities including density of population adjacent route involved and by the Weight of the package being shipped. In some cases it is cheaper to use the express service and in other cases, 'the parcel post service is cheaper. Because of this situation it is therefor an economical necessity to ascertain the rates by both parcel post` and eXpressand by direct comparison determine which service offers the cheaper transportation on giyen shipment.

The Postal Department of the United States Government publishes for distribution at a stipulated fee, a list of all the post oilices in the United States, the same being called the United States Official Postal Guide. This publication, which is in book form, must be used in conjunction With the Oflicial Zone Key to Parcel Post Guidey he latter being a supplemental and separate sheet of paper on which is shown the Zone in which each unit ofr area is located in relation to some one certain or designated unit of area Vin which a selected point of shipment is located. in this manner each subscriber or purchaser of the United States iiicial Postal Guide is supplied With the correct zone hey applying to shipments ori ginatingwithin the unit of area in Wh ich the post oilice originally receiving his shipment is located. ln order to understand the meaning of the term unit of area77 it is necessary to know that under the postal system as established by the act creating the parcel post system7 the lilnited States and its several territories and possessions are divided into units of area SO minutes square identi.- cal with a quarter of the area formed by the intersecting` iarallels of latitude and meridians of longitude7 and these are represented on appropriate postal maps or plans originally published by the Post Office Department of the United StatesGorei-nment under the same act. rlhe units of area thus established and numbered as hereinafter described are made the basis of eight postal Zones, as follows: i'

Any unit of area of which any portion lies within 50 miles of the geographical center of the unit of area in which the designated point of shipment is located is considered to be in the first Zone7 from such point of shipment; any unit of area moreithan 50 miles distant but any portion of which is less than 150 miles distant from the geographical center of the unit of area in which the initial point of shipment is located is in the second zone; in a like manner the third zone applies to units of area distant from 150 'to 300 miles; the fourth Zone to units of area distant from 300 to 60() miles; the fifth Zone7 to units of area distant from 600 to 'i000 miles; the sixth zone to units of area distant from i000 to im() miles; the seventh zone to units of area distant from 14100 to 1800 miles; and the eighth zone applies to all units of area greater than 1800 miles distant from the center of the unit of area in which the initial point of shipment is located. The eighth zone parcel post rates apply to all possessions of the United States outside the normal boundary lines of the country and to all foreign countries with GISl which the United States has established parcel post relations. Therefore, the zones in which the various units ot area are located with reference to any certain or designated unit of area may be Worked out and shown on these sheets called Otlicial .Zone Key to the Parcel Post Guide,77 and it will also follow that each unit ot area will require its own zone key especially worked out for it.

For the purpose of forming a definite basis upon which to construct express tariifs, the various express companies, chiel ot which is American Railway Express Company, have divided the United States into geographical squares called blocks and make their rates apply from block to block rather than from point to point or trom town to town, from which it follows that all oiices or towns in a designated block are subject to the rates defined for the block in which they are located.

An express block is the geographical square formed by the intersection of two lines of latitude and two o'l" longitude` Therefore all express blocks are 60 minutes square and are xed and unchangeable, and are unitorm except as to such variations as are dueto the necessity that lines et lati` v' tude conif'erge -from the equator toward the poles. Each ot these geographical areas or blocks -is given a number. The system ot numbering is as follows:

The express blocks lying between parallelsy 480 and 49", the latter being the north boundary of the United States, are numbered consecutively from 101 to 139, proceeding from west to east. All blocks lying between parallels 47 and 4:80 are numbered consecutively from 201 to 258, proceeding from west to east, and this system is conitinued'until the entire area of the United States has been divided into express blocks andearh block assigned a definite and fixed number as above described.

The express rates as established and published by the American Railway Express Company in Local and Joint Tariff of First and Second Class Rates are divided into graduated divisions called scales. Each scale provides the rate to be charged on packages of all weights from l to 10() pounds or more, dependent upon certain conditions relative to length of haul, railroad facilities, character of territory, express divisions or zones traversed. and possibly other considerations. That is, t0 say, the'rates applying` on express shipments are designated by scales,l worked out on a graduated system so that'the charges on a package of 'any acceptable weight and travelling any distance under any conditions can/ be quickly determined by the applicationot the rates as embodied in sonne one ofthe various scales. The scales applylng from one certain designatedl block to each'and all of the various other blocks, as heretofore described, are worked out and shown in other pamphlets or keys, ot which there is one for each block and these pamp lets are called Local and Joint Block Tariit.

From the above description ot the parcel post units ol area and express blocks it will be seen that the parce-l post units'of area are one-fourth oi the size of an cz;- press block. Each unit of area is given a separate number, the units lying in columns extending north and south being numbered from the north to the south beginning With the column lying farthest east and progressing toward the west. For each of said columns titty numbers are assigned and on account of the shape of the extreme eastern part ont the United States there will be only nine numbers used to designate the units of area appearing in that column. There are not any ot the columns throughout the entire United States that makes use of the entire .number of the `series assigned toi each column.

In each ot' the systems as described for designating express blocks and parcel post units of area the United States is treated as a Whole, with the result that the numbers required to designate both the express blocks Yand parcel post units of area therein run into the thousands, the express blocks running as high as 2545 and the parcel post units of area running to 5813. Since each ot' the various key sheets or tables for ascertaining the rates applying to the respective express blocks and parcel post units of area must deal with numbers running into' the thousands, it is necessary to search through these comparatively cumbersome lists of numbers covering the entire United States in order to [ind the one applying to the particular unit of area when parcel post rates are considered and the same condition is true with respect to the numbersdesignating vexpress blocks when expressrate information is desired, sincev it is obviously necessary to determine the number ot' a particular block and the scale applyingto the same in order to ascertain the correct ex,- press rate.

lThe improved method which I use forsimplifying the treatment ot' thesek comparatively large and cumbrous numbers ap-v plyingy to the units ot area and express blocks is to treat each sub-division of `the country called a State as an entity and independently of every otherVS-tate and in connectionfthereivith to consider only such express blocks and parcel post units of area as have any'portion thereof lying Within the boundary Iot that particular state,

1In preparing a guide embodying the inventio'n of my improved method :or system, attenthe express blocks and parcel lpost iis units of area lying wholly or in part within the designa-tec State are determined and listed, I then arrange the parcel post units ot' area in numerical order, and each of said units of area so arranged are then renumbered or redesignated by arbitrarily assigning a new number or designation, preferably, although not necessarily, a number, to each of the units of area as numbered under the before mentioned system established by the United States Postal Department. These new arbitrary key numbers, as I prefer to term them, begin preferably although not necessarily, with the numeral 1 Yiter the previously lowest numbered unit ol area as established by the United States Postal Department, and the series proceeds in numerical order until all the units in the State under consideration have been so renumbered. The same system is applied Ato the oiiicially numbered units of area oic all the various States ont the Union, and it will be seen that this plan provides much lower designating numbers than those originally adopted under the plan oi the United States Postal VDepartment and results in much simpliiication and consequent economy or" time and expense in both the publishing and in the commercial use of the guide. For example to refer to the system of designating the parcel. post units of area in the State oit Illinois, it results from the system ot' the United States Postal Department that the Illinois units of area run from No. 2114 as a minimum to No. 2519 as a maximum, but it also follows `from the system employed that these numbers for Illinois are not consecutive, due to the tact before mentioned that the parcel post units of area are numbered consecutively in the vertical columns trom the extreme north limits ot the United States to the extreme south limits. It therefore follows that for the State ot Illinois the official units of area numbers run 'from 2114 consecutively to 2122, where a break occurs and the next designations numerically according to the official. system begin with 2164 and extend consecutively to 2174 and with a break to 2214 and extending thence consecutively to 2224 where another break occurs. There will be as many ot these consecutive groups of official numbers applied to parcel post units of area obviously, as there are vertical columns of such units of area involved in the official scheme covering'the State or any other given State under treatment. For the State of Illinois in connection with which the present exemplitication of the invention is described and shown in the drawings,it follows there will be altogether of these oiiicial broken numbers, running from 2114 to 2519 more or less consecutively, a total of only 78 units of area involved for the entire State., According to my syspress blocks my invention contemplates an vanalogous treatment, and as these blocks run in the State ot Illinois in a broken series Jfrom 735 the lowest number numerically to 123'? as the highest number numerically, and as there are all together 24 of these numbers, I apply to them in numerical order letters .or the English alphabet from A to El. respectively. While I prefer to use letters olf the English alphabet, obviously characters of any other alphabet or other suitable designations may be employed such as numbers. The use ot letters or similar characters instead of numbers to designate these express blocks is preferred by me tor the reason that the number of express blocks ordinarily in any given State will be approximately one fourth the number of par-. cel post units of area, there being, Jfor example, in the State oit.' Illinois, as noted, 78 units et' area, while there are only 24 express blocks. Ihat the proportion of parcel post units ot area to express blocks is not maintained in the exact ratio of four to one for a given State, will, it is apparent, be due to the tact that the irregular boundary lines oi States like the `State ot' Illinois will result in tractional express blocks increasing the proportion of such blocks over the parcel post 4units of area as apparent in the State oit Illinois. W'hile in the State of Illinois there are normally only 24 express blocks to be designated and the normal English alphabet is adequate 'for the purpose, in States like the State of Texas where 77 express blocks are involved it will be 105 apparent that the normal English alphabet will not suffice. I take care of this in such States by combinations of letters. For example, I may take the 26 letters of the Eng-V lish alphabet and by the addition to each 110 of, for example, the firstletter A making the series run AA, BA, CA, etc., I may produce a series of designating characters large enough to take care of any contingency.

By making use of the above described key numbers for redesignating oiiicially numbered parcel post units of area and in a like manner making use of the key letters 'for redesignating oiiicially numbered 120 express blocks as described, I am able to eliminate the cumbrous oiiicial designations in my comparative rate tables. To illustrate from the drawings in Fig. 1 showing the manner of listing Illinois 125 towns the town ot Abingdon is taken. Reterence to American Railway Express Gompany Official Directory discloses that' Abingdon, Illinois is in express block No. 935, and reference toy the United States 130 @ilici'al Postal Guide discloses the fact that Abingdon is in parcel post unit of area No. 2367. By referring to primary leaf of Fig. in which the express block and parcel post unit of area key letters and key numbers respectively, are Vworked out, it will be seen that these are designated by J-57 for bingdon. These designations are fixed or unva-rying for the town of Abingdon or anyother town listed in Illinois as shovvn in Fig. l regardless of the center from which rate tables are being' constructed or from which rates are being considered. In

the exeinplilication of the invention the rate sheet of If`ig'. 2 and the St. Louis special sheet of express rates to vsubblock oliices in Illinois of Fig. 3 are constructed With reference to St. Louis yas a center or initial point of shipment. If the official parcel post unit of area and the express block numbers were employed it would be necessary in Fig. 1 to` print saine opposite the toWn of Abingdon as for example 9%23671 Then in makingI up the special rate sheet or secondary leaf of Fig. 2 it would be necessary to print these numbers in the key spaces at the top of the table with the result that instead of the key letters at the top of the express rates arranged in scale columns and the comparatively small key numbers at the top of the parcel post rates arranged in Zone columns, we would have the unwieldy or cumbrous numbers of the official publications referred to. This would not only encumber the list of offices or towns of Fig. l, but would make the rate sheet of Fig. 2 almost impossibleof use for ordinary reference purposes. This is especially true When it is considered that in a reference Work of this character, it is impossible or impractical to attempt to print lists of towns or shipping destinations and rates on the same sheet, and it follows since reference from one sheet to another must be made, that persons using the guide are forced'to refer from the town list sheet to the rate sheet by means of designating characters or numerals, and these obviously must be simplied as much as Vpossible in order to enable the Work to be of any practical use.

To further illustrate. it will be seen that the tovvn of Addison, which is in, express block 838 and parcel post unit of area 2115, is designated in the list of tovvns for Illinois b v the key letter and number I-I-Q which like all of the similar key designations of my system are easily remembered or held in the mind of the user until thereference to the rate table may be completed, and from which it will beseen that the express rate to Addison will be found in scale 2l which is the column next to the last of the express rates printed on the Illinois rate sheet of Fig'. 2, and on which obviously, are considered only those express scales applying to shipments destined to pointsin the State of Illinois from St. Louis as a shipping center. If it were desiredtherefore, to ship onepound by express from St. Louis to Addison it vvill be seen that thecost by express would be twenty-nine cents;y The key number referring to the parcel post rate Avfrom St. Louistc yAddison being 2 it will be ascertained by reference tothe selected list of key numbers at the topof the columns containing ythepostal rates K for Zonesl, 2 and?) that Addison is found in zone 3 from St. Louis and the parcel post rate for one pound is thereforepsixcents. From this it will beseen that `the express rate from St. Louis t'o Addisonds ntvventy nine cents for one poundv and that the parcel post rate covering' the same, shipment l would be six cents, and'. the tvvo ratesare set forth in parallel column arrangement for comparative purposes.

It will be noted by referring to secondary sheet, Fig. Qthat the key numbers at the top of the parcel post rate columns are grouped wherever possible in consecutive arrangement. The hyphen between tvvo key num? bers, for example 'l-t, indicatesthat all towns having parcel post key numbers from l to l inclusive in the State of Illinois vvill be found in zone 3 and hence take the rate for zone 3 from St. Louis as a shipping center.

By referring to the Illinois list of towns on primary leaf Fig. l, it will be seen that Alexander is designated by key letter and number 0-59. The express key letter 0 does not appear with the common key letters designating vexpress scales and rates butv above the scale columns 3, 4, 5 and 8 on the Illinois rate sheet. On the Illinois rate sheet We find All Illinois towns marked N, O, P. S, T or W are in sub-blocks from` St. Louis. Reference. is further made to St1 Louis special sheet. Thevlatter is the sheet of 3' and by referring to same We find that Alexander is followed byA numeralS, thus showing'that a shipment from St. Louis to Alexander by expressis governed as to rates by express scale 8. Referring tothat scale on the rate sheet of Fig. 2, it Will be seen for example, that 4the rate on a'. fivepound shipment from St. Louis to Alexander would be thirty-one cents. Y

It should be borne i-n mind in considering rates for sub-block offices that such ratesapply only to towns located in the sameblock as the initial point of shipment or. in contiguous blocks, from whichk it follows that on account of the geographicallocation of the city of St. Louis the ratefguide compiled for the city of St. Louisvvouldo'f necessity have these special sub-blocks sheets for only as arranged by States or in the symbols or designations printed on those lists. All it 'will be necessary to change Will be the State rate sheets or secondary leaves together with any express sheets showing express rates to sub-block oi'ices from St. Louis. This is an important feature, particularly since it is common in rate guides of this character to publish the same in the form of volumes contained in loose leaf binders and from which it follows that the lists or primary leaves of shipping destinations arranged by States Will be uniform throughout guide books arranged for any point of shipping origin in the entire country while in the manner indicated the rate sheets or secondary leaves for the separate States must of necessity be prepared in the manner indicated for each State whenever Chicago as distinguished from St. Louis or Whenever any other point of shipping origin considered in the preparation of the guide.

In order that the invention might be understood the details of the preferred embodiment have been shovvn and particularly described but it is not desired to be limited to the mere details of the invention for it will be apparent that persons yskilled in the art may resort to various modifications Without departing from lthe purpose and spirit of the invention.

l claim:

l. The herein described guide for showing comparative shipping rates or tariffs by parcel post and express comprising a list of shipping destinations arranged in alpliabetical order by States or other geographical subdivisions in combination with a rate sheet for the said State or geographical sub-division. said rate sheet con'iprising tabulated express rates arranged in a plurality of columns designated by scale numbers With each of said columns containing graduated rates tor shipments of different weights by express, parcel post rates arranged in tabulated form by Zones in columns similar to said express rates and designated by Zone numbers, and abbreviated hey designations for indicating the numbers of the respective express blocks and parcel post units of area in which the various shipping desti-nations in the said list are located, said abbreviated key designations beine;l also used to identify the corresponding express scale and parcel post zone columns of rates on the said rate sheet.

2. The herein described guide for showing comparative shipping rates or tariffs by parcel post and express comprising a list shipping destinations arranged in alphabetical order by States or other geographical subdivisions in combination with a rate sheet for the said State or geographical subdivision, said rate sheet comprising tabulated express rates arranged in a plurality of colcating the units of area in veach State, and' simple characters for indicating the nuinbers normally applied to the respective express blocks, said key 4letters and key numbers being also used to identify the corre` spending express scale columns' and parcel post Zone colunins'cf rates on said rate sheet.

3. A book niadeup of primary leaves each containing names of places combined with absolute location characters based upon es`- tablished parcel post unit of area and express bloclr systems, and secondary leaves each of which contains tables translating said parcel post and express absolute location characters on certain primary leaves into shipping rates from a predetermined center.

fl. A book made up of primary leaves each containingl naines otl places combined ivith absolute location characters based upon es tabiished vparcel post unit oi .aree` land express block systems indicating the positions of said places geographically, and secondary leaves each of which contains a table translating certain of rsaid parcel post and express absolute location characters into' relative shipping distances :from a given ship-k ping center.

5. A boolrinade up of primary leaves each containing namesv of places combined with absolute location characters based upon established parcel post unit of area and eX- press block systems indicating the positions f of said places geographically, secondary leaves each of which contains a table translating certain of said parcel post and express absolute location characters into relative shipping distances from a given shipc ping center, and each of said secondary leaves also containing a table translating the corresponding aforesaid relative shipping distances into shipping rates.

6. A book made up of primary leaves containing naines of places each combined With a character expressing the parcel post unita.

to which it corresponds, and secondary leaves each of which' contains a table translating the parcel post units borne by certain of the primary leaves into parcel postzones with reference to a predetermined center, each of said secondary leaves also containing a table translating the parcel post zones shown thereon into shipping rates.

Tl'. A bcok made up ot primary leaves containing names oi places combined with characters expressing the parcel post unit of area and express block locations o'lf said places, and secondary leaves each of which contains a table translating said parcel post unit and express block characters into parcel post Zones and express scales with reterence to a predetermined center, each ot' said secondary leaves also containing a table translating the parcel post zones and express scales shown thereon into shipping rates.

8. A book made up ot primary leaves containing the names ot places 'combined with two distinctive sets ot characters or symbols indicating the absolute location characters based upon established parcel post unit ot' area and express block systems, and secondary leaves each ol which contains `tables translating said parcel post and express absolute location characters on certain of said vprimary leaves into shipping rates from a predetermined center.

9. A book made up ot primary leaves containing the names ol places combined with characters or symbols indicating in an abbreviated manner the established parcel post unit of area and express block number geographical designations ot said places, and secondary sheets each of which contains tables translating said parcel post and express characters or symbols on certain primary leaves into shipping rates trom a predetermined center.

lO. A book comprising` leaves each containing names of places combined with both the established parcel post unit ot area and express block numbers indicating the positions of said places geographically, adapted to be used in conjunction with tables for translating said unit of area and express block numbers into relative shipping distances from any predetermined shipping center.

il. A book comprising leaves each containing names of places combined with both the established parcel post unit ot area and express block numbers indicating` the positions ot' said places geographically7 adapted to be used in conjunction with tables 'for translating said unit oit' area and express block numbers into relative shipping distances trom any predetermined shipping.

center, and with other tables tor translating said relative shipping distances into shipping rates.

l2. Ai book comprising leaves each containing names ot places combined with characters or symbols indicating in an abbreviated manner the established parcel post unit ol area and express block number geographical designations of said places7 said leaves being adapted to be used in conjunction with tables for translating said abbreviated parcel post unit ot area and express block number geographical designations into relative shipping distances Jfrom any pre'- determined shipping center and with other tables tor translating said relative shipping distances into shipping rat-es.

13. A book made up ot primary leaves each containing names ot' places combined with absolute location characters of an abbreviated nature based upon an established express block system in combination with characters tor determining parcel post rates, and secondary leaves containing tables translating the express block absolute location characters ol an abbreviated nature and the parcel post characters into shipping rates from a predetermined center.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification on this 23d day ot December, A. D. 1919.

CHARLES W. FLINT. 

